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Having had a look at my squad and seen who I'd like to keep, I reckon I can cut about £1k off of it at the moment. I'm going to arrange some friendlies to boost my current finances of £77k. I won't be posting my starting thing this time, can't be bothered.

I have managed to get the board to look at giving me a parent club. Mon them finding me someone who's willing to pay £100k a season. Also arranged loads of friendlies, so hopefully, if all goes to plan I could have about £250k by the end of pre-season.

Youth Recruitment has been upgraded!!! This will be usefull for when March comes round (currently 29th December).

FA Cup, i was kicked out at the first hurdle...

FA Trophy, i'm into the second round, but i've been paired with the best team in the competition, 1st place in the Blue Square Premier (Wrexham)...

League, i'm currently 4 points clear in 1st place...

I could have left everyone behind, but my form has taken a nose dive in recent weeks In the last 9 matches, i've won 4 (2 were FA Trophy), drawn 2 (1 was FA Trophy) and lost 3 (All in League). I've lost my last two matches in the league which, if i'd won could have put me 10 points clear!

I have managed to get the board to look at giving me a parent club. Mon them finding me someone who's willing to pay £100k a season. Also arranged loads of friendlies, so hopefully, if all goes to plan I could have about £250k by the end of pre-season.

Wouldn't having a parent club maybe contribute to breaking a rule? I'm not 100% sure, but don't they send players to your club sometimes and you have no say over it?

I'm a little bit worried, and already I'm hoping to have 1 game a month postponed ....

The reason? My midfielders are knackered after only 7 games. At least my preseason went well financially. The Micky Mouse Cup (awesome name, I know :P) with Brighton, Birmingham and Bournemouth taking part, plus further home friendlies with Blackburn, Bolton, Barnsley and Brentford saw my bank balance soar to £200k. Now I've got to try and convince the board to increase my junior coaching....

I'm a little bit worried, and already I'm hoping to have 1 game a month postponed ....

The reason? My midfielders are knackered after only 7 games. At least my preseason went well financially. The Micky Mouse Cup (awesome name, I know :P) with Brighton, Birmingham and Bournemouth taking part, plus further home friendlies with Blackburn, Bolton, Barnsley and Brentford saw my bank balance soar to £200k. Now I've got to try and convince the board to increase my junior coaching....

I'm only doing it because I have a big squad and may as well get the use out of it. The players who are staying will play the important friendlies. So ideally everyone's morale will be good for start of the season and I can charge out of the blocks.

Finished Season 1. Will post an update tomorrow. Season on a whole was fine didn't leave the middle third of the table at all but the youth intake I'm very happy with. There's one player who I'm delighted with considering i thought i was going to get a load of rubbish but that's all I'm saying for now.

Season 2012/13
Pre-season went alright with the highlight being a 2-1 victory over League 1 side Walsall. We picked up a few injuries in that period and the squad was looking very weak but I couldn't do anything about it so just lowered the training workload and kept going.

League Table: Although the table makes it look like we struggled we didn't really. Never had a threat of relegation and at one point (early in the season after a very good run) we skirted with the play-off places. Squad: Not a great squad. Lacked depth and quality. The best player by far was Garry Grace who was the playmaker of the team setting up most of our goals. And then just behind him was Wallace who was our only decent CB. Here's the Ass Man's report at the end of the season.

Some of you may have spotted the name Anthony Freeman YP02. This is the guy who stood out in the intake.Youth Intake: Of course Anthony Freeman was by far the best player on show there. But the ones to look out for in the future are Simon Kidd and Gerald Bassett who both are predicted to be much better than the best player playing their position.

Anthony Freeman: OK so here you might be thinking that he's pretty average with a couple of good physical stats but that's it. Well this is the report that my assistant gave him. Now considering that I was expecting a load of rubbish to get a player that could possibly be a good League 1 player is huge. And as you can see from the Squad list he didn't disappoint getting 6 in 9 games.

Good start there TWFL. Did well to survive comfortably, now hopefully the push will start next year!

Freeman looks very impressive. The assistant's report is great news as he could end up playing for you as you rise through the leagues (hopefully!). Can I ask what Judging Player Ability/Potential your assistant has?

That Freeman guy looks mint. If he's finishing improves a little, definitely a poacher or good poacher in the making. I probably won't have much time to play today as I have to go into work for a few hours soon.

TWFL- great season comfortably surviving relegation and i must say you have been very lucky in your youth intake. to have 5stars CA already must mean freeman is one of your best players. dont get sucked in to making him an alround striker, train those physicals until he is at least 18/19 and then concentrate on finishing. I wasnt as lucky in my youth intake unfortunately.

Struggling to score really and it has pegged me back in the league, i'm now 2nd, joint with Alfreton at the top on points, but my goal difference is lower I was 5 points clear not long ago in 1st place!

Struggling to score really and it has pegged me back in the league, i'm now 2nd, joint with Alfreton at the top on points, but my goal difference is lower I was 5 points clear not long ago in 1st place!

Understandably disappointed but I imagine if you were offered a play-off spot at the start of the season, you'd have snatched at the chance, so to be challenging for the title is an incredible accomplishment!

Get a team meeting and some interactions going Think I might post up a short update at Christmas, just of my current league standings and top couple of players. If that's okay of course.

I've chosen to opt for a solid side who are very hard to beat and try keep it tight at the back whilst exploiting our pace on the counter. This has definitely gone well so far with us having the tightest defence in the league.

A good season on the whole. We struggled to score goals but still managed to avoid relegation comfortably with a 15th place finish. I hope to improve slightly next season and I'm pondering on changing my tactic to a more attacking one. The team also got to th first round of the Fa cup and the 2nd round of the FA trophy which I am pleased with.

The stand out in terms of stats is Wolfenden, with 17 goals and 11 assists. Our Goalkeeper james spencer is probably the highest quality player the team has so he will be in the line up for years to come. Overall, the squad is lacking depth and a goalscorer and my youth intake has done nothing to ease my concerns over this.

A couple of bright prospects but none to set the world on fire. Joseph White is my best prospect and has been honoured with the (YP) tag, he has decent physicals and should be a first choice left back in the future.

Round up; a decent season overall and i'm glad to have not fallen at the first hurdle. The main disappointment is the lack of a goalscorer in the youth intake.

Next season: hoping to break the top half with a finish of 11th or better, but not expecting much. We will be getting better training facilities in november if we dont lose to much money and I will try and improve the junior coaching budget.

I basically try to beat teams on the counter attack, with 3 strikers up front, but I also have a steady defence aswell. 4-1-2-3

I'm really struggling a lot now, I think it's down to fitness, so i'm sending players on holiday for a short while, 4 players at a time and hopefully we can get them back and be back to winning ways soon.

joe- I'm Playing like that but the problem is there isnt any pace to expose in my team! My formation is more narrow however, as i dont have any decent wide players. instead i'm playing with 3 CM's and a DM. This is under review though and i may change it up.

We only managed to beat Cray in 1 leg, needing a Replay against Gresley and losing the replay against Blue Square Premier side Mansfield who then got knocked out in the next round to non-league side Bashley, Bashley ended up losing to Sunderland 2-0 in the 3rd Round.

joe- I'm Playing like that but the problem is there isnt any pace to expose in my team! My formation is more narrow however, as i dont have any decent wide players. instead i'm playing with 3 CM's and a DM. This is under review though and i may change it up.

I just play my fastest players on the wings and in the poacher position. I think pace is a key factor in the lower leagues and can rip defences apart.

I sometimes opt for 3 Cm's and a Dm when I'm defending a lead as it is a little tighter.

Next season
after 3 failed attempts at getting my junior coaching up i need at least 1 or 2 ups before march rolls around again. im hoping that survival will be easier this time round with the players use to the tactics and their improvement overall. From now on i will post my youth intake as i get to them save leaving it till the end off the season.
If anyone want any other info on this team or how anyother team is getting on just ask.

Ant- Unlucky with Hendon mate, I hope you have another go with a different team

greyman- Well done on avoiding relegation and dont be to sad about the intake. Andrews will be a beast with his pace even if my nan is better at finishing than him , would swap your intake for mine any day.

I'm struggling for words here, I was one of the best teams, 5 points clear at the top and won plenty of games...

In the last 16 games, i've won just 2 games outright, and won 1 game on penalties against BSP Wrexham, drawn 9 and lost 4... I'm 5th in the league now! Looks like promotion is out of the question unless we start winning.

just a quick update before i dash off to the pub, on my facilites screen now i have a new stadium being built which wont be finished till june 2016, and it says i have no youth facilities so does that mean i wont get an intake till march 2017????

joe- why are you not encouraged! people are getting 16yr olds ready for the first team!

That's true, very true indeed.

I was just building up my hopes a bit too much I feel but I suppose I'll just have to take what I can get.

Originally Posted by Tactic Master

I'm struggling for words here, I was one of the best teams, 5 points clear at the top and won plenty of games...

In the last 16 games, i've won just 2 games outright, and won 1 game on penalties against BSP Wrexham, drawn 9 and lost 4... I'm 5th in the league now! Looks like promotion is out of the question unless we start winning.

I had a very similar problem in my previous save with Gainsborough. We hit a slightly tough patch and our heads dropped, meaning we lost about 6 on the trot. I went for a change of formation that time though and it worked in the end.

just a quick update before i dash off to the pub, on my facilites screen now i have a new stadium being built which wont be finished till june 2016, and it says i have no youth facilities so does that mean i wont get an intake till march 2017????

Strange...... I've just gone to the boardroom and it says that a stadium is being built for 2016 aswell. it was also started the day my training facility plans were cancelled.... hmmm. still have youth facilities though..... I would guess you will get a youth intake still.

We are using it so we can track our youth players. YP=youth player and the number is the season we had them come through. every season you pick your best player from your intake and give them this tag.

Okay, so I'm going to do a bit of a mid-season update as I really am loving this save. A lot of my games have been cancelled over Christmas because of snow which hopefully will get rid of the congested fixtures.

Well we've got off to an absolute flyer, our last defeat was back on the 1st September and we've put together a run of 15 games without defeat, drawing just 3 in the process. Also within this run we have only conceded 5 goals.

In the league, after 22 games, we sit 11th in the BSS, with 31 points. However, we're only 5 points away from the playoff places, and importantly, have a better goal difference over most of the teams above us. Some good runs in the league have been followed by bad runs, but overall, not too bad so far.

In the FA Cup, Staines (BSS) were beaten 3-2 in Q2, with Kings Lynn losing 2-0 in Q3. In Q4 however, we were drawn against Chelmsford (BSP). 2-2 was the final score before the replay saw us suffer a 2-1 loss in Essex.

Some say we may have been fortunate to beat Welling in Q3 of the FA Trophy, as we needed an 85th minute equaliser to force a replay, before winning 3-2 at Welling, but the truth was in the first match, we went ahead after only 3 minutes, then hit the woodwork 4 times before half time. When they went 2-1 up I thought that's it. Try again next season. In the first round proper, it's another trip to Essex, as we're drawn away to Chelmsford..... We forced a replay by drawing 1-1, despite playing most of the match with only 10 men, and in my view rather luckily win the replay 3-2 despite having another man sent off and a player carried off after I used my 3rd sub. Tonbridge are next up for me in the cup.

In terms of junior coaching, I managed to persuade the board to increase it after we beat Kings Lynn. Hopefully, I can have a bit of a run in the FAT and persuade the board to increase it again at the beginning of March.

In the league, after 22 games, we sit 11th in the BSS, with 31 points. However, we're only 5 points away from the playoff places, and importantly, have a better goal difference over most of the teams above us. Some good runs in the league have been followed by bad runs, but overall, not too bad so far.

In the FA Cup, Staines (BSS) were beaten 3-2 in Q2, with Kings Lynn losing 2-0 in Q3. In Q4 however, we were drawn against Chelmsford (BSP). 2-2 was the final score before the replay saw us suffer a 2-1 loss in Essex.

Some say we may have been fortunate to beat Welling in Q3 of the FA Trophy, as we needed an 85th minute equaliser to force a replay, before winning 3-2 at Welling, but the truth was in the first match, we went ahead after only 3 minutes, then hit the woodwork 4 times before half time. When they went 2-1 up I thought that's it. Try again next season. In the first round proper, it's another trip to Essex, as we're drawn away to Chelmsford..... We forced a replay by drawing 1-1, despite playing most of the match with only 10 men, and in my view rather luckily win the replay 3-2 despite having another man sent off and a player carried off after I used my 3rd sub. Tonbridge are next up for me in the cup.

In terms of junior coaching, I managed to persuade the board to increase it after we beat Kings Lynn. Hopefully, I can have a bit of a run in the FAT and persuade the board to increase it again at the beginning of March.

just realised I cant stop people reloading their youth intake to get better players. I'm sure your all trustworthy, but just remember, if you do this even once you probably wont feel the same way about completing this.

just realised I cant stop people reloading their youth intake to get better players. I'm sure your all trustworthy, but just remember, if you do this even once you probably wont feel the same way about completing this.

just realised I cant stop people reloading their youth intake to get better players. I'm sure your all trustworthy, but just remember, if you do this even once you probably wont feel the same way about completing this.

If you want to be pessimistic, you can't stop people using FMRTE to make their youngsters immense either

At the end of the day, if someone is attempting a challenge the only reward for doing so is satisfaction, and there's no satisfaction in cheating

Just got my youth intake last night, couldn't be bothered posting after i'd been training, was too tired lol. As far as I can remember, I have one good prospect and could be my YP01 (i think thats what you said to name it), but the others are a little disappointing!

I'm wondering if, with the extra players coming in, I could push for top spot again, i'm currently 5th after a horror show in recent months.

It's been a long season, but we've finally got our first crop of youth players in! It has come up with some interesting players, but there isn't anybody outstanding as such...

We've worked very hard this season and started on sensationally, soon rising above the likes of Darlington and Alfreton into top spot. We heald top spot for a while and even went 5 points clear at one point, but all of a sudden we hit a brick wall! We are now doing the opposite and being the team 5 points behind 1st place! We are currently in the play-off positions, but it's Squeeky Bum Time! We are a healthy 5 points clear of Nuneaton, but as we have already experienced, that can quickly change and i'm hoping the new crop of youth can shoot us back up the table.

Season Verdict So Far... It's been a more than successfull season compared to what I expected, but I wont complain and we are just hoping to get promotion and maybe attract bigger crowds and hopefully improve the facilities.

He looks to have very good Physical stats except strength and his composure is fantastic, really exciting stats if you ask me. I've set up a training schedule as promised for all my YP's and i've set individual training to Quickness to try get pace and acceleration up.

The only problem with Beckford is he has very low Determination levels, so i've decided to get Matty McNeil to tutor him who has 12 Determination. I'm hoping that Beckford's will go up through being tutored and give him a better chance of reaching his potential. I was a bit scepticle at first as my Assistant Manager isn't the best when it comes to looking at CA and PA, but I had nothing to lose in giving him games as my strikers haven't been able to score to save their life in the last few months and he's come into the side and blown peoples minds away!

1st Game: 1 Assist, best player in my team...
2nd Game: 2 Goals, best player in my team...

He looks to have very good Physical stats except strength and his composure is fantastic, really exciting stats if you ask me. I've set up a training schedule as promised for all my YP's and i've set individual training to Quickness to try get pace and acceleration up.

The only problem with Beckford is he has very low Determination levels, so i've decided to get Matty McNeil to tutor him who has 12 Determination. I'm hoping that Beckford's will go up through being tutored and give him a better chance of reaching his potential. I was a bit scepticle at first as my Assistant Manager isn't the best when it comes to looking at CA and PA, but I had nothing to lose in giving him games as my strikers haven't been able to score to save their life in the last few months and he's come into the side and blown peoples minds away!

1st Game: 1 Assist, best player in my team...
2nd Game: 2 Goals, best player in my team...

I can't wait for the next match now!

I know exactly how you feel with this guy. It's great when you get someone in the intake that can immediately go into the main team and play well.

We managed to beat Tonbridge 2-1 in the FAT but just 3 wins in 17 games meant we was in freefall down the BSS table. This was compounded by the 5-1 demolition job we suffered at the hands of fierce rivals Sutton Utd in the 3rd round of the FAT. However, 3 wins in the last 5 games of the season meant we was safe from relegation (quite comfortably in the end), but it was doubtful for a while.

I wasn't that impressed by my youth intake, as the only player suitable for a first team call up straight away was a goalie (report card), a position that I was lucky to have good cover for anyway, but a few decent prospects there. I just need to get the midfielders trained up ready for first team action though, as that is where I'm weakest currently.

In terms of transfers. I signed no one to stay within the rules, and the only player to leave was 1 of 4 leftbacks I had when I took over.

PS. Incase your wondering about the website, it's my own photography website. Feel free to have a browse if you want. I've set up a gallery where I can upload all my screenshots so you can see my progress through the challenge. As it's an unlisted gallery, the only place you'll find links for it, are in this thread.

Oh, while I remember, the board has spent £85k for me to add 50 seats to bring the ground up to league rules, so I expect no increase in junior coaching next season.

We managed to beat Tonbridge 2-1 in the FAT but just 3 wins in 17 games meant we was in freefall down the BSS table. This was compounded by the 5-1 demolition job we suffered at the hands of fierce rivals Sutton Utd in the 3rd round of the FAT. However, 3 wins in the last 5 games of the season meant we was safe from relegation (quite comfortably in the end), but it was doubtful for a while.

I wasn't that impressed by my youth intake, as the only player suitable for a first team call up straight away was a goalie (report card), a position that I was lucky to have good cover for anyway, but a few decent prospects there. I just need to get the midfielders trained up ready for first team action though, as that is where I'm weakest currently.

In terms of transfers. I signed no one to stay within the rules, and the only player to leave was 1 of 4 leftbacks I had when I took over.

PS. Incase your wondering about the website, it's my own photography website. Feel free to have a browse if you want. I've set up a gallery where I can upload all my screenshots so you can see my progress through the challenge. As it's an unlisted gallery, the only place you'll find links for it, are in this thread.

Oh, while I remember, the board has spent £85k for me to add 50 seats to bring the ground up to league rules, so I expect no increase in junior coaching next season.

The goalie looks like he could be a good one for the future It's amazing the amount of points between 19th and 20th! Well done on staying up

TM- that young striker looks great! I wish people would stop being disappointed with their youth intake, anyone who has players through with gold stars already should feel lucky.

Avramski- well done on surviving ( as that is what the first season is about ) unfortunately your site seems to be to busy for me to view your screenies. Was disappointing as i wanted to see your goalkeeper .

Everyone- Stop moaning! your youth intakes are looking great and like they will develop into much better than your first team, so be happy!

This afternoon is the final showdown for the league, unfortunately on the last day of the season I could only take second place, which leaves the play-offs. We beat southport in the semi's in both legs, but now face the toughest challenge of our career so far, against darlington who I pipped to 2nd place! Can we do it?

League Table : Strange a more comforatable survival with less points on the board

Fa Cup : KO on first game

Fa Trophy : Same as Fa Cup shocking

Squad : Lost our best RB,GK and second best DC due to wage budget being halved and they wouldn't renew. but apart from that all looks good. just hope next years intake has a RB and a MC as were very lacking there

Finances : This is really not looking good loosing huge amounts every month even tho the wages are at 2500 a week, not much at all. chairman will not throw any money in whatsoever. he is a bit of a dick

League Table : Strange a more comforatable survival with less points on the board

Fa Cup : KO on first game

Fa Trophy : Same as Fa Cup shocking

Squad : Lost our best RB,GK and second best DC due to wage budget being halved and they wouldn't renew. but apart from that all looks good. just hope next years intake has a RB and a MC as were very lacking there

Finances : This is really not looking good loosing huge amounts every month even tho the wages are at 2500 a week, not much at all. chairman will not throw any money in whatsoever. he is a bit of a dick

Welcome to the showdown between Chester & Darlington! The Play-off Final!

Previous Meetings...

The First game between Chester and Darlington was a pre-season friendly, but despite matching them in every area of the pitch, Levi Mackin scored an own goal which sealed out fate, losing 2 - 1.

The Second game was an away game for us and Darlington were expected to crush us. Darlington were crushing us come half-time, but we were still holding out at 0 - 0 and in the second half, Matthew Dolan got sent off to Darlington. This allowed us to keep control of the ball a bit better and we were unlucky not to snatch a victory. It ended 0 - 0...

The Final game we played against them was in the return fixture, with home advantage! Darlington proved however, that home advantage wouldn't give us an easy ride and despite Darlington picking up a red card late on, we were lucky to come out of this with a very respectable 1 - 1 result!

The League...

Darlington were probably the most feared opponent in the league, come the start of the season, or at least in my eyes they were! But some how in our last game of the season, we managed to snatch second place away from them and i'm sure they will be looking for revenge! They have performed extremely well this season with 77 goals and 41 conceded, giving them a goal difference of +36.

Shaun Curtis is seen as the main threat for Darlington and he's been one of the most consistent performers in the league this season. We will need to keep him quiet if we are to come out of this one with the victory!

Verdict: I believe we can pull this off, but I will be looking towards my YP01 to provide some memorable magic! We've managed 2 draws in the league, but that friendly defeat does hang over our heads and it's time to go out and prove we are good enough! We are playing at home which could be a major factor in this match and i'm very pleased by that!

congrats on promotion!!!!!! woooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! well done looking forward to the end of season post.

Thanks It was nail biting against Darlington, but I feel we were the better team and Gary Beckford YP01 was absolutely brilliant! Matty McGinn's giant throws are very dangerous and he proved that in the final